Columns
The long list of problems waiting for the Tories after 19 July
The long-awaited easing of restrictions will not be the triumphant moment that many expected back in May. The Delta variant…
Why the mangling of language matters
I thought that this week I would share with you a bunch of words and phrases which are currently overused…
The bogus business of stigma-busting
Our society is bristling with social stigmas, we’re told, even in the progressive West, even in London. Life is so…
Oli London and the trickiness of being ‘trans-racial’
Not everyone will have heard of Oli London, a British social media influencer who made news for two reasons last…
The political baggage of moving house
We are currently house-hunting — please let me know if you have one going spare. We are looking for a…
The UK’s immigration figures are a fantasy
Journalists filing to deadline are apt to dig only so deep when googling for statistics, which in themselves are sometimes…
My voyage back through the landmarks of my life
I was looking forward to my dinner at Daquise in South Kensington, a Polish restaurant that’s been there for ever…
The cold reality facing Sajid Javid
The most difficult time for a new secretary of state is normally the first three months in the job. An…
Keir Starmer’s days are numbered
I think Keir’s had it. This may not discomfort you terribly, I know. Still less the fact that Labour will…
Why we don’t always say what we see
The official review into the Manchester Arena bombing was published this week. Four years after 22 mainly young people were…
Life is about to get harder for Boris Johnson
Covid restrictions are meant to end on 19 July. But parliament will not return to normal until September. The Commons…
The word ‘mother’ isn’t offensive. The Catholic church should say so
I’m used to waiting for the Catholic church to make sense. I’m a convert to Catholicism, and Catholic ideas sometimes…
The biggest danger to Boris comes from the enemies within
Boris Johnson’s predecessor was destroyed by her inability to meet deadlines. Theresa May extended the Brexit transition period so many…
The difference between looking and seeing
By the side of the road from Sudbury in Derbyshire to Ashbourne, there is a lone eucalyptus tree. This is…
Air travel is in terminal danger
During the political car crash of 2019, I couldn’t imagine ever agreeing with Theresa May. Yet last week she exhibited…
A breath of fresh airwaves
A couple of decades back the Radio Society asked me to moderate a debate for its summer festival. ‘Between who?’…
Why this G7 summit matters more than most
It’s risky planning a trip to the British seaside at any time of year. But if the weather forecast is…
My advice to Gareth Southgate
This is a difficult issue to raise on the eve of a major football tournament, but as a progressive individual…
The polarising power of plague
Now that the government has kindly allowed us to go out again, I wonder if anyone has discovered the same…
The forgotten joy of spontaneity
If you ask people what they’ve missed out on since the pandemic, they’ll probably lament their cancelled plans. Weddings postponed,…
Give the people what they think they want
I have a mean streak. Perhaps my cruellest urge is to give people what they claim to want. When political…
Big Tech is turning into Big Brother
The Big Tech social media giants are having to rethink their policy of censoring anybody who suggests that Covid originated…
China is not as strong as it appears
The theory that the pandemic began with a leak from a research laboratory in Wuhan is rapidly gaining currency. Since…
What Dominic Cummings and the Prime Misfit have in common
Should the name of Dominic Cummings ever make it into the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, there’s one Cummings phrase…
Apple’s cowardly surrender to the mob
A few weeks ago, more than 2,000 employees of Apple Inc. signed a petition that led to the sacking of…
